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Remains of 7 sailors killed in US ship collision return home

No one knows what caused the crash and there are multiple investigations underway.However, some security experts used publicly-available ship tracking data to place the collision more around 1:30 a.m.The impact crushed the starboard side of the Fitzgerald.A large dent was clearly visible in its right mid-section as the destroyer limped back to Yokosuka naval base south of Tokyo, home of the Seventh fleet, on Saturday evening.At a press conference held yesterday at Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin said that the ship suffered severe damage rapidly flooding three large compartments that included one machinery room and two berthing areas for 116 crew. “So it was traumatic”, Aucoin said, calling the crew’s efforts heroic. “It was right near the pilot’s house, and there is a big puncture”.The 10,000-ton USS Fitzgerald and the ACX Crystal, a 29,000-ton container ship flagged in the Philippines, collided early Saturday local time off Japan’s Izu Peninsula, officials said.- Fire Controlman 1st Class Gary Leo Rehm Jr. The container ship’s left bow was dented and scraped, but it did not appear to have sustained any major structural damage.The U.S. Navy released the names of the deceased sailors on Sunday night.Then Nippon Yusen, the Japanese shipping company that chartered the Crystal, determined upon further investigation that the collision had happened around 1:30 a.m., and the Coast Guard amended its information to reflect that, Tanaka said. Both Aucoin and the Japanese coast guard, however, said it was too early to determine what led to the collision.Gonzalez said: “I am deeply saddened by the death of Weslaco native, Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Noe Hernandez”.The navy and coastguard are conducting separate investigations, but the Japanese side will ask for U.S. cooperation in its inquiries, a spokesman for Japan’s transport safety board told Agence France-Presse.”Our probe is still under way, and we are discussing” with the USA authorities over interviews with American sailors, a Japan Coast Guard official said Tuesday.The Japanese Coast Guard was also searching for the missing at the scene of the collision, about 56 nautical miles south-west of Yokosuka. Ron Flanders said, “That is not our understanding”.The cause of the crash is still under investigation by the Japanese coast guard and U.S. Navy.”The remains of seven sailors previously reported missing were located in flooded berthing compartments, after divers gained access to the spaces”, the Navy said Monday.The Navy’s 7th Fleet said searchers found the bodies Sunday morning, Japan time, after the guided-missile destroyer returned to its base in Japan.”My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of all the courageous sailors of the USS Fitzgerald and with the entire United States Navy during this extremely hard time”.Spicer said the incident was a “sobering reminder of the dangers” faced by the men and women of the USA military every day.Acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley said the Navy is determined to get to the bottom of things. Thank you to our Japanese allies for their assistance.Huynh’s sister, Lan Huynh, told WVIT-TV that the family is coping as best they can.